“Every pregame we have a little captain’s walk where we talk in the middle of the field,” Johnson said. “I guess Auburn didn’t really like it, we were on their logo. We tried to diffuse the situation, but it just escalated. We just got out of the way.”

While Auburn doesn’t specifically ask teams to stay off the midfield logo, a team spokesperson referred to it as an “unwritten rule.”

When Auburn visits an SEC school they do its prayer circle without stepping on the opposing team’s logo.

All coach Gus Malzahn said of the incident was that it was the first of its kind during his three-plus years at the school.

“I just think the AU in the middle of the field is the one thing we ask is for them to not step on it, we just hope the opponents wouldn’t do that,” Auburn quarterback Sean White said. “They didn’t really care. We just said we’ll come out in the game and handle it there.”

War Eagle Extra

Jordan D. Hill has covered high schools and athletes in the Bi-City area for the Ledger-Enquirer since January 2017. Prior to coming to Columbus, Hill was a freelancer for The Macon Telegraph and an intern for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. A native of Jasper, Georgia, Hill is a graduate of Pickens High School and the University of Georgia.